Blizzard eStadium opens in Taiwan
California-based video game developer Blizzard Entertainment has officially launched its eStadium in Taipei, Taiwan last Thursday, March 30. Blizzard eStadium houses a 500-seater floor in 1,653 square meters. It also features a 6.144 x 3.456 meter main display screen and two 1.096 x 1.536 meter side screens. CEO and Co-founder of Mike Morhaime said at the launch that the Asia-Pacific region has dominated the global e-Sports market for years and the regional market serves as a bellwether for the strength of global demand.
According to Yahoo! esports China, the stadium will be the premier venue for tournaments for Blizzard titles like Heroes of the Storm, Hearthstone, and Overwatch. When asked why Blizzard chose Taiwan, they brought up the enthusiastic Taiwanese esports fans. They also mentioned that they wanted to use Taiwan as a fulcrum to promote gaming activities.
“Taiwan is not only very enthusiastic fans and supporters, there are many events are still launched, we hope that Taiwan will become a fulcrum to promote gaming activities. We have consulted many people, and finally in the case of everyone in favor of Taiwan, and the future is not only Taiwan’s events, international events will be held in this competition.”
The first tournament for the Blizzard eStadium will be the Overwatch Pacific Championship on April 8th, with a $272,000 prize pool. Invited teams are Taiwan’s ahq e-Sports Club, Flash Wolves, and Machi Esports, Hong Kong’s Hong Kong Attitude, Japan’s DeToNator.GOLD and SunSister, Thailand’s FireBall, and Australia’s Blank Esports.
Feature photo image from Blizzard Estadium Facebook page.
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